The Detective: Prequel - The beginning of something big
by levasaurus
Summary: An impossible crime meets an investigative legend in the making. This is the case that will make him or break him. And this is just the start. A gritty take on Republic city and Book one as a whole. No pairings, Oc centric, slight AU


Prequel: On the pulse

He was sure of it. This was the strangest case he'd ever worked, Republic city or otherwise. The P.I was hunched over the carcass of some poor young thing, probably the one who screamed. The land lady called it in, and he'd been the one to respond, having a police scanner and phone in your car allows you to do that. The land lady had let him in after a short interview. He insisted that she go back to her house, he'd let the cops handle her. That being said he made sure he got all the information he needed before he called it in. In this case one mind is better than two. He still needed a list of suspects however so he searched his big brown overcoat for his notebook and pen for the 3rd time, he wore his usual suit underneath it, a plain black blazer and a grey waistcoat with a white shirt and a dark navy blue tie, on his legs he wore black trousers and a nice pair of new black shoes that he was still getting used to.

Before he checked the body he'd already checked out the house. It was small, quaint might be the better word, it had a homely feel to it. Everything was well organised and the woman was well dressed so he could assume that she was the tenant. She definitely had money, something he could tell from her tailored blazer, but the size of the house told him that she'd rented it out of necessity not desire, perhaps she wasn't always rich? A closer inspection of the book shelves confirmed this, old tattered books, some with notes and scribbles suggesting that she used to be a student. Being a student in itself suggests that she didn't move in on her own, but instead had roommates, the single bedroom suggests that perhaps she lived with her boyfriend? Yes that was probably it, she had a rich boyfriend who came from money, who helped her out by getting the deposit on the house. But from what he could gather about the duvet and pillows in the living room they had a falling out. Interesting.

From all of that he had a pretty good idea of what had happened this evening. She was feeling spiteful so got a date, the fact that there was no forced entry, and no signs of a struggle indicates that he was let in, she liked him enough to follow through with it. It was definitely a him, she'd dolled herself up to look pretty, this was a date. The boyfriend got jealous maybe? Probably not, he'd of been angrier and made more of a mess, besides the land lady said she hadn't seen him for at least a week, so definitely another guy. She invites him in, then what? he murders her? No probably not that cut and dry, but he'd been wrong before. Looking at the body again he noticed something, the Investigator knelt down and looked at her head, and what he saw scared him more than any thug with a knife ever could. A thumb print, that's all it was, a slightly bruised thumb print. That on its own isn't what scared him, but it was the implication it left that did. She'd been killed by a thumb? The way it was placed left no other theory in his mind, it was very deliberate and was precisely placed in the center of her forehead. This was the cause of death, or at least related to it, he was willing to bet his life savings on that. He looked down and noticed that her hand was clutching the left side of her chest, a heart attack? The thumb makes her die of a heart attack? Even he was having trouble believing it now. But no matter how many times he called himself crazy, told himself that maybe the heart attack was just a poison, that the thumb print could be some calling card, he couldn't bite, his gut wouldn't let him. Nevertheless he pulled out his notepad and made a note of everything, the state of the house, his theories on cause of death, and a list of people to check on. When he made his last note he went to the phone and called the cops. They were very late.

Upon the arrival of the metal benders he had but two suspects and even then he was clutching at straws. The main suspect was the boyfriend for obvious reasons, but rich kids don't kill, they run home. That theory can be corroborated with the land lady's as she hadn't seen him for a week, he made a note to check on that. The least likely of the two was the land lady, but the P.I wouldn't buy that either. She seemed the most likely based on location and the fact that she wasn't worried when she was told to go home, but from what he could gather from their conversation she lacked motive, it was all sunshine and lollipops between them. Very interesting.

He walked down the steps of the house and into the street, making an effort not to talk to the cops except flash an investigation permit at them. It was nippy and although he had his overcoat he was still having trouble adjusting to the change in temperature, he blamed his fire nation upbringing. He reviewed his notes on the walk home. This was shaping up to be a good one, no suspects of any merit, a clean crime scene and a completely unbelievable cause of death. Yes this one would test him, but he'd crack it. He always breaks a case

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Hey all,  
hope you enjoyed this little prologue, this is just a taste of what I have in store. I'm in the process of writing up a full fic and the first two chapters should be up soon. Reviews would be nice but keep them constructive if you could.


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